Page 108 of Sinful Crimes for the Artistically Inclined
Warm eyes searched over Joe’s chest with a small wrinkle at the left corner of the fine lips. “I’d like to see that.”
What was going on? Joe fell mute again as a new, chilled glass was tapped down on the bar next to his quickly diminishing cocktail. Who the hell was this man? An ex? He was, Joe was quite sure, engaging in some sort of flirting. But not with Percy. Not with hot, handsome, irresistible Percy. It was confounding.
New ice clanked into a fresh shaker and Giordano went about making the third cocktail of their brief, strange time in the bar, talking lightly of weather, local restaurants, as though Joe were any other tourist. He made some jokes, which were actually quite funny and that Joe couldn’t help laughing at, until, “How long have you been together?”
Aha, Joe thought. Giordano’s chance to assert dominance. Joe certainly wasn’t about to say they had only been together for a few weeks. “A while. A long while.”
“That’s good to see.”
“Is it?”
A green drink was poured long into Joe’s glass. “He usually gets bored very fast.”
Joe licked his lips. “Okay.”
Giordano placed down the shaker. “But I can see why he’s not bored of you.”
“Can you?” Why was his heart beating so hard now? The whole thing was intolerably awkward, and he wanted desperately to be out and in the fresh air with Percy again and away from whatever this man was trying to do.
But Giordano leaned on the bar, confident eyes set on Joe. “You’re so beautiful. I would never get bored looking at you.”
It was a good thing Althea snickered right about then, and Joe was able to see the daggers Leo was throwing his way. The atmosphere broke apart about a second before it crushed him, but even as he stood, Giordano said of Joe, “He’s so pretty when he blushes.”
Althea laughed double loud, but Leo only adjusted his malevolent gaze to Giordano. “He’s taken.”
Giordano shrugged. “That’s up to him.”
Leo’s mouth dropped open, Althea leaned back to enjoy the show, and Joe’s heart sank at the thought of breaking up a fight between Percy’s assistant and his ex, or whatever he was, but then Percy’s arm fell around Joe’s neck, and with enormous relief, he felt a swift kiss dropped on his cheek.
“What did I miss?” Percy asked.
“A new cocktail,” said Giordano.
Percy smiled and took a sip of Joe’s drink. “I like this one better.”
“I can see that,” said Giordano.
Percy laughed, but looked only at Joe. “Che ne pensi di un appuntamento?”
“Solo se a cena offri tu,” Joe replied, with a pitch of sex in his voice that made Percy almost cancel the day entirely.
But then Giordano slapped a hand down on the bench. “Abruzzo!”
Joe’s eyes widened, a touch of panic about them. “What?”
“Your accent,” said Giordano. “Lo riconoscerei ovunque.”
“No,” said Joe. “I’m not… from there. I’m from… somewhere else…”
Percy saw it all. Giordano’s surprise at the denial, Joe’s discomfort at the discovery. And he knew in the instant Joe was lying to them both, but he said, “Joe’s from Rome.” Giordano’s astute eyes sought his, but Percy’s refused to meet them. “Shall we, handsome?”
“Mmm.”
Percy waved Leo and Althea through to the lobby, and waited for Joe to stand, placing a gentle, reassuring hand on his lower back to guide him past. But then Joe felt the touch fall away.
Quickly, discreetly, Giordano was called close with an instructive finger, and Percy leaned over the bar, his hot lips whispering millimetres from Giordano’s ear. Giordano pulled back, frowned at him, then Percy wrenched him back by the lapel of his shirt, and whispered again. This time Giordano locked eyes with Joe, just as though they were speaking about him. He smiled. He nodded. And he and Percy turned away from one another without any sort of goodbye.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
